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Rising Voices Condemns ICE Detentions Targeting the Michigan South and Southeast Asian Community

  • Writer: Rising Voices
    Rising Voices
  • Aug 1
  • 5 min read

Detroit, MI- Rising Voices is incredibly alarmed by the inhumane and cruel targeting of our South and Southeast Asian community members in Michigan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). There are increasing reports of immigrants not only being arrested on the streets, but also while appearing in good faith at their appointed ICE check-ins only to be detained and deported without due process. 


It is clear that the detentions taking place are an escalation of mass deportation efforts that are not based on real concerns for public safety, but fulfilling quotas. The Hmong and Laotian immigrants detained on Wednesday at the ICE offices in Detroit consisted of refugees and legal residents without histories of violent criminal offenses who were reporting for what they were told were interviews. No warnings were given as to the nature of their appointments and no information was given to their families once individuals were detained. In essence, these legal residents were “disappeared.”


The persons being detained are parents, sons and daughters, community leaders, and small businesses owners, but most importantly they are human.


Lue Yang, a Hmong refugee who resides in St. Johns with his wife, 6 children and aging grandmother battling cancer, was detained while at work to earn a living to care for his family. Should he be deported, Yang will be irrevocably torn from his family and may never be able to say his last goodbyes to his dying grandmother. Yang is also President of the Hmong Family Association, a nonprofit organization assisting families across the state of Michigan. Not only will his family struggle with the loss of their breadwinner, but the community will be losing a critical advocate.


Mohan Karki, a Bhutanese-Nepali refugee, was residing in Ohio awaiting the birth of his first child with his wife Tika Basnet when he was detained and placed in an ICE facility in Michigan. His very pregnant wife, who at the time should have been focusing on preparing for birth, was instead forced to find ways to delay her husband’s deportation to a country he had never even stepped foot in. Tika was forced to give birth alone, and is now caring for their newborn child while fighting to keep her husband from being deported to a country he has no ties to. 


These two cases are just a few of the thousands of cases that ICE has taken on since Trump came into office.  And while immigrants are hard-working contributors to our communities, we must remember that individuals are more than their labor and their titles. No person deserves to be ripped away from their families–they are just as much a part of our community as any other Michigander. 


The people devastated by these mass detentions are not just mere individuals–there are entire families and communities that depend on them. Studies have shown that a family’s income decreases by 70% on average after a family member is arrested by ICE.  Further, detention and deportation places family members that are left behind at a much higher risk of homelessness and food insecurity.  When the administration and those in power take away our loved ones, they are not just not hurting the immigrant in question, but also our collective society as a whole.


The cruelty of detainee treatment and their discardment outside the US cannot be understated. During  Memorial Day weekend 160 people were deported to Laos and Vietnam on one single flight. Nationwide, over 16,000 South and Southeast Asians have removal orders in place, meaning they are on track to be deported. However, this may not be their country of origin as many members of our community are considered on paper to be stateless due to circumstances such as birthplace in refugee camps or conflict zones.


This is a call to action. As an organization dedicated to the organizing and wellbeing of Asian American, women, family, and youth, Rising Voices is determined to fight back against these atrocities, which are an attack on all Michiganders regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin. We are experiencing a state of national emergency, and all hands are needed in order  to stop these horrific acts of violence against our community.


Rising Voices urges all Michigan residents to call their members of Congress and state legislators and demand they push Kevin Raycraft, the regional ICE Field Director in Detroit, to release members of our community, stop the mass detentions of nonviolent immigrants and refugees and apply due process to all who are detained. It must be made clear to our representatives that they must do all they can to protect our Michigan families. Please refer to the links and script below to find your representatives and take action NOW. 


To find your member of congress visit: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member 

To find your state representative: https://www.house.mi.gov/#findarepresentative 


Script:

Dear (name of elected),

I am writing to you as a concerned constituent regarding the cruel and inhumane uptick in deportation cases of South Asian and Southeast Asian community members in our state. The persons being detained are parents, sons and daughters, community leaders, and small businesses owners, but most importantly they are human.


(Insert personal connection if you have one or feel comfortable doing so)


All people deserve the right to live with dignity. These individuals have strong connections to the United States and some even have U.S. citizen children. The ripping apart of families is not just heartless, it is also detrimental to the very fabric of our society and leaves a negative impact on our economy. Studies have shown that a family’s income decreases by 70% on average after a family member is arrested by ICE.  Detention and deportation places families left behind at a higher risk of homelessness and food insecurity. 


We should be focusing on strengthening our economy during this time and funding our K-12 schools, not tearing families apart. I urge you as my elected representative to write to Regional ICE Field Director Kevin Raycraft and ask them to stop the separation of families.


Sincerely,

(Name)

(City, Zipcode)



If you or a loved one is facing deportation and is in need of help, please refer to the list of resources below and do not hesitate to reach out to Rising Voices. Our staff will do all we can to assist or refer families in need to resources and professionals who can help.



Together, we can work to stop the attacks on our immigrant communities and make sure they are not alone in this fight.  We will not allow the kidnapping and terrorization of our neighbors. We will stand with our loved ones and families. We will rise up in their defense.


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Rising Voices, a project of the Center for Empowered Politics, is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization that seeks to increase the civic participation of Asian Americans in Michigan by developing the leadership, organizing, and power-building capacity of Asian American women, youth, and communities. 

 
 
 

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Rising Voices is fiscally sponsored by the Center for Empowered Politics, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization; Rising Voices Fund is sponsored by the Center for Empowered Politics Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Rising Voices is based in stolen occupied territories called Waawiiyaataanong, named by the Anishinaabeg and includes the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), and Bodewatomi (Potawatomi) peoples. We acknowledge that Asian American immigration is part of the history of settler colonialism and  that all Indigenous peoples have and continue to be forcibly removed from their homelands. Rising Voices stands in solidarity with Black and Indigenous communities who continue to be systemically excluded and oppressed through the ongoing damaging effects of settler colonialism, genocide, and myths of white supremacy.

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